UGC pay scales: Teachers protest over delay in Punjab, Chandigarh

Punjab Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisations went on a mass casual leave and ceased work for a day besides taking out a rally in Chandigarh

Teachers under the banner of Punjab Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisations (PFUCTO) on Friday went on a mass casual leave and ceased work to protest against the unwarranted delays in the implementation of UGC pay scales in Punjab and Chandigarh.

The protested teachers marched towards the Punjab chief minister’s residence, but were stopped by the Chandigarh Police.

Around 2,000 teachers participated in the rally. Afterwards, the teachers marched towards the house of Punjab chief minister, but were stopped by the police. Teachers raised slogans till an officer on special duty of the CM, SS Brar, reached the spot. A memorandum was handed over to Brar who assured them that the CM would solve their issues.

In a statement, general secretary, PFUCTO, Jagwant Singh said, “The Punjab government had notified the 6th Punjab Pay Commission award and Chandigarh had also endorsed it for its employees. But the UGC pay scales that were to be announced are nowhere in sight. The teachers are the only ones now whose pay scales are yet to be revised. This is causing immense anxiety and hardship to university and college teachers.”

HS Kingra, president of PFUCTO, added that Punjab was the only state that was yet to implement UGC pay scales notified in November 2017 and UGC regulations notified in 2018.

This had also adversely affected the implementation of UGC pay scales in Panjab University, colleges of Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh, which adopted the notification of the Punjab government.

Panjab University Teachers Association (PUTA) president Mritunjay Kumar said that it was unfortunate that despite a positive response in discussion, no progress had been made: “We have been impressing upon the Punjab government and the Chandigarh administration to do the needful, but to no avail. This has baffled the teachers, raising grave concerns about governance in general.”

Research students and scholars from universities also joined the protest stating that the decision to delink from the UGC directly hurt them and they planned to join the protest in large numbers in the days to come.

The teachers will go on a fast on Teachers’ Day at Panjab University. Thereafter, teachers will protest daily for two hours by boycotting classes. However, in the interest of the students, admission work will not be interrupted.